DISCOURSE: 756
BENEFITS OF TRUE WISDOM
Proverbs 2:10-22. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things: who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life; that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it: but the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
WHETHER we regard Solomon as a saint walking with his God, or as a backslider restored to God, we must consider him as pre-eminently qualified to give advice for the regulation of our conduct: for, as a saint, he was endued with wisdom above all the children of men; and, as a backslider, he had a wider range for his wickedness, and a deeper experience of its folly, than any other person ever possessed.
Under the character of “wisdom,” he here speaks of true religion; which he recommends to all, but especially to persons in early life; and, in order to impress his advice the more deeply on our minds, he sets before us,
I. The benefits derived from true wisdom—
When once religion is deeply rooted in the heart, it will render us the most essential services—
1. It will keep us from the society of ungodly men—
[There are many whose delight is in wickedness: they have departed from God themselves, and have “made crooked paths for themselves;” in which they proceed with all imaginable “frowardness” and perverseness. Disdaining to receive any light from God or his word, they “walk in utter darkness, not at all knowing whither they go [Note: ver. 13. with 1 John 2:11.].” And not content with casting off all restraint themselves, and walking after their own lusts in all manner of uncleanness, they wish to draw all they can along with them: they deride all serious piety, and labour to the uttermost to turn aside from the way of godliness any who may be inclined to it [Note: 1 Peter 4:4.] — — — “They rejoice to do evil:” and, if they can but succeed in their efforts to ensnare a person who has been fleeing from sin, and to divert him from following after God, not even Satan himself will exult more than they — — —
Now from such companions true religion will preserve us. We shall see at once how far they are from God, and how impossible it is to be happy in their society: “for what fellowship can righteousness have with unrighteousness; or light with darkness; or Christ with Belial; or he that believeth with an unbeliever [Note: 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.]?” Instead of seeking their society, therefore, we shall come out from among them, and be separate [Note: 2 Corinthians 6:17.];” and not have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them [Note: Ephesians 5:11.]” — — —]
2. It will keep us from the snares also of ungodly women—
[It is lamentable to think how degraded human nature is, and how assimilated to the very beasts multitudes are, who were originally formed in the image of their God. Females, married, as well as unmarried, “forsaking the guide of their youth and the covenant of their God,” will abandon themselves to the most vicious courses, soliciting the embrace of men to whom they are utter “strangers,” and practising every species of artifice, to ensnare and vitiate all who come in their way — — —
And such is their influence over those whom they have once ensnared, that it is a miracle almost if even one is recovered to a sense of his duty, and is brought back again in penitential sorrow to his God [Note: ver. 19.]. Truly their ways lead down to death and to hell [Note: Proverbs 5:3-5; Proverbs 7:26-27.]: for not only do they draw men from all thoughtfulness about their souls, but they bring them into extravagances and crimes, which not unfrequently issue in suicide, or death by the hands of the public executioner.
But from these also will vital piety preserve us. It will lead us to use all the precautions against them, that a prudent government employs against the infection of the plague. We shall have no communication with person, whose very presence will endanger the life of our souls. We shall not go near their houses, or the places of their resort [Note: Proverbs 5:8.]. We shall not parley with temptation when it comes in our way: but shall flee from it, as Joseph did, saying, “How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God [Note: Genesis 39:9.]?” — — —]
3. It will guide us in the paths of righteousness and peace—
[When once true religion enters into the soul, we shall take the Scriptures for our guide, and endeavour to walk in the paths which all the holy men of old have trod before us [Note: ver. 20.]. We shall not be satisfied with following the customs of those around us, or with conforming to the standard of duty which the world approves; we shall desire to be “holy, as God is holy:” and shall determine through grace to “perfect holiness in the fear of God” — — —]
Such being the effects of true wisdom, I will proceed to point out to you,
II.
The vast importance of seeking after it—
Both the promises and threatenings of the Mosaic law were chiefly of a temporal nature; the people who served God faithfully being encouraged to expect peace and plenty in the land of Canaan; whilst those who were disobedient to his laws were to be visited with war, famine, pestilence, and ultimately to be driven out of that land, as the Canaanites had been before them. But under these figures truths of far higher moment were veiled: and the present and eternal states of men were shadowed forth as indissolubly connected with their moral and religious character. Hence the contrast drawn between the sentence accorded to “the upright” and “the wicked” in the concluding verses of our text, must be understood as referring to their respective states,
1. In this world—
[“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come [Note: 1 Timothy 4:8.].” Certainly in this world there is an immense “difference between those who serve God, and those who serve him not [Note: Malachi 3:18.].” We readily grant that the ungodly and profane may prosper in respect of outward things, and that the saints may be in a state of degradation and oppression [Note: Psalms 73:3-10.]: but there is no comparison between the real happiness of the one and of the other: the ungodly are “like the troubled sea, whose waters cast up mire and dirt [Note: Isaiah 57:20-21.]:” they are agitated by many ungovernable and conflicting passions: their tempers are a source of continual disquietude [Note: Romans 3:16-17.]: and they have no inward resources to calm the tumult of their minds — — — But the godly have consolations peculiar to themselves, and abundantly sufficient to counterbalance their afflictions. They have a God to go unto; a God, who says, “Cast thy burthen on the Lord, and he will sustain thee.” The very tribulations which they endure for righteousness sake, are to them a ground of glorying [Note: Romans 5:3.]: and the light of God’s countenance lifted up upon them their their souls with joy and peace, even with “a joy that is unspeakable,” and “a peace that passeth all understanding.”
If then we look no further than to this present life, we do not hesitate to declare, that “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding [Note: Job 28:28.].”]
2. In the world to come—
[“There is a rest which remaineth for the people of God [Note: Hebrews 4:9.];” a rest, into which the true Joshua shall introduce them, as soon as ever they shall have completed the period fixed for their abode in this dreary wilderness: and there shall they “remain” for ever: there shall they be as “pillars in the temple of their God and shall go no more out [Note: ver. 21. with Revelation 3:12.].” But how shall I represent their happiness in that place where there will be no remains of those evils which they experienced in this world [Note: Revelation 21:4.]; and where every blessing which they here sought for, shall be imparted to the utmost extent of their desires, and of their capacities for enjoyment [Note: Psalms 16:11.] — — —
On the other hand, there is a day of retribution for the ungodly, when they shall not only be “convinced of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed, and of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against the Lord and his ways, but will have judgment executed upon them” by the Judge of quick and dead [Note: Jude. ver. 15.]. And what words can ever suffice to give an adequate idea of their misery, when, driven from the presence of their God, and from the congregation of his saints [Note: Psalms 1:5.Luke 13:28.], they shall be consigned to those regions of misery, where they will take their portion in “the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,” and “dwell for ever with everlasting burnings!” — — —
If men would but reflect one moment on these consequences of their impiety, there would be no longer any occasion to descant on the wisdom of seeking after God, or the folly of provoking his displeasure by a life of sin.]
Let us learn then,
1.
To form a right estimate of religion—
[Religion is wisdom, even though the whole world should combine to call it folly — — —]
2. To seek it in due measure—
[To receive it into the head is to little purpose: the proper seat of it is the heart. Nor is it sufficient that we yield a constrained obedience to it: its service should in our estimation be accounted perfect freedom. It is only “when wisdom enters into our heart, and knowledge it pleasant to our soul,” that we can be said to have received the grace of God in truth. The worldly man is at home in the world: it is his element wherein he moves. And such must religion be to the child of God, his rest, his element, his delight — — —]
3. To let it have its full operation on our souls—
[Wherever true wisdom is, there will be “discretion to preserve us, and understanding to keep us [Note: Proverbs 2:11.].” We conceive this observation to be deserving of peculiar attention; because the indiscretions of religious people are rarely traced to their proper source, a want of right dispositions in the heart. Where meekness, and modesty, and diffidence, and humility reside in the heart, there will be a corresponding propriety of conduct in the life: but where pride, and conceit, and forwardness, and self-will are predominant, there will the deportment savour of these hateful qualities in all our intercourse with mankind. There is this remarkable difference between human wisdom and that which is divine: human wisdom leaves the heart untouched, or even administers fuel to its corruptions: but divine wisdom “pours the very soul into the mould of the Gospel [Note: Romans 6:17. The Greek.],” and assimilates all its dispositions to the image of God himself. It was not Paul’s eminence in intellectual attainments that made him so eminent in Christian tempers: it was the abundance of God’s grace that rendered him so fruitful in every good word and work: and, if the grace of God abound in us, we also shall proportionality adorn the Gospel in the whole of our life and conversation. Lot that then be remembered which Solomon has told us, “I Wisdom dwell with Prudence [Note: Proverbs 8:12.]:” and let us be careful that we do not by any indiscreet conduct give “occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” Our determination, through grace, must be, to cut off from the world all unnecessary occasion of offence. We must not imagine that our separation from an ungodly world gives us a licence to violate either the duties or the charities of life; but, whilst we “abstain from all appearance of evil,” we must cultivate to the uttermost not only “whatsoever things are true, and honest, and just, and pure, but whatsoever things are lovely and of good report [Note: Philippians 4:8.].” We must labour to “behave ourselves wisely in a perfect way [Note: Psalms 101:2.].”]